((Catchup Post – original RP 30/1/14-1/11/14))
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose, To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude, And in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
So said Henry, lamenting that the duties of kingship rarely afforded him the time to relax. While I do not claim a crown, I know how he feels. My kingdom may be much smaller, but on the other hand, young Henry didn’t have to worry about werewolves, vampires, and missing fox cubs. Or, if he did, neither history, nor the blessed bard recorded it.
Tonight, I had a rare moment of ease, including time for a bath and even time to come back to my journal, which I had sadly neglected for a few days. There had not been much to record the previous day. We had dinner in the tavern, during which I introduced Ivoron and Maric, introduced him to the laws of Mysthaven and discussed what skills he could offer the village. His main skills seemed to be in healing plants, so I made a note to introduce him to Dorina and Helene. Wren and Aoibheann seemed to have had some sort of argument, at least, I presume so, since they spent part of the evening making apologising and making up. Hadley had acquired a pet fox-cub somehow, but I didn’t really get a chance to find out more, because she and Galyanna went off for some girl talk. I must admit I couldn’t imagine Galyanna having girl talk, and judging by his facial expression, neither could Maric.
Tonight, Dyisi came to visit, finding me relaxing in my robe after my bath. Since it was a casual social visit, I didn’t feel the need to get dressed further and neither of us is overly modest. We joked about that, and spoke on the difficulty of finding a moment to relax. That’s when I recalled the Shakespeare quote. She did suggest that maybe I could put up wards to protect myself from interruptions, but I said that this wasn’t really fair. I had my duties, and the town had the right to interrupt me. Besides, if I needed to get away, I could always go and visit Gwyn or Valene, which would at least make it harder for them to find me, for a while.
We moved on to talk about trading and such like. Dyisi’s abilities to move from realm to realm were useful for small items, such as my mint imperials and such like, but were not really feasible for large-scale supplies. I jokingly suggested that she visit old Theodore Culper’s warehouse to bring me back a bottle or two of his Captain’s Hoard rum. Sadly, she did not think she could manage that, as it was a place unfamiliar to her, and she doubted I could describe it in terms that would be meaningful to her means of travel. I could not dispute her on that. I scarcely know how I travel around, and therefore could not sensible give directions to another who travels the same way. The thought occurred that I could probably go see Theo myself, via my own realm-hopping ability, or via the Shadow Roads. I told her a little about my travels and how Alec had released me from my bonds to him, allowing me to make my own way, un-anchored.
We were interrupted by knock at the door. When I called for whoever it was to enter, we were joined by Dorina and Hadley. The former looked a little uncomfortable, which was understandable, given our last encounter, while Hadley looked sullen and resentful. Dorina and I agreed we needed to talk at some point, but that was not what she had come for. Eventually, with much prompting and prodding, Hadley admitted she needed a favour. Her pet fox-cub, apparently called Ellie, had escaped and she wanted to know if she could have some help finding her. She was somewhat reluctant to ask, and had to be prodded by Dorina to remember to say please. Even so, I could tell she was worried about the little cub, so I checked the roster and saw that Radek was off-duty. I figured with his werewolf senses, he could track a young fox without any problems. I scribbled a note for him and told them to go see Vasily or Mirko on the doors and they would find Radek for them. I also suggested she call in at the kitchen for some scraps of meat, that might help tempt little Ellie out of hiding. She thanked me properly, then, and managed more of a smile than she had before. I gave her the note and sent them on their way.
Dyisi and I conversed some more, on matters of no real importance, until she left me, saying she didn’t wish to impinge further on my rare moment of leisure.
Home is the Sailor 